Sunday, December 21, 2014

We brought
our program for the year to a close on Saturday with a moved reading, led by
our secretary Rosalind. But really, it's all Rob's fault. Rob put together a
most scholarly collection of research into the court scene from The Merchant
of Venice and laid out the fruits of his labours in our newsletter, Ariel.

The court
scene has to be one of the most widely performed excerpts from Shakespeare. I
checked YouTube to see how many versions had been uploaded, and found over
1700. As a matter of interest, I sought other famous scenes and speeches: Mark
Antony's 'Friends, Romans, and countrymen' takes the cake with nearly 40
thousand versions, with Hamlet's soliloquy coming in second at 32,500. (Many of
these, of course, would be accounted for by young hopefuls putting up their
audition pieces.) The balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet has been uploaded in
24,000 versions, with Hal V's Crispin Crispian speech showing up over 7,500
times, including a couple by pre-schoolers! The Merchant's court scene only has
1700 versions, but that's still a respectable showing.

At this
point, Rosalind picked up on Rob's research and came up with the idea of a
moved reading. I've been with the club over ten years and in all that
time we've never done a moved reading. In fact, I have never done a moved
reading before in my life, and I was surprised at how hard I found it. It's
impossible to do Shakespeare half-heartedly - my inner Gratiano wanted to make
rude gestures at Shylock whenever he got the chance, even when the Duke was
watching. I suspect that in reality, poor old Grat would have been kicked out
of court, but this time the Duke was in a mild mood so he got away with it. Of
course, every time I gave Shylock the finger I had to take my eyes off the
script, and while I know that scene reasonably well, I don't know it off by
heart. And therein lies the difficulty of a moved reading.

We all
enjoyed the exercise, and members who were not reading (and were therefore a
captive audience!) agreed afterwards that it had been enjoyable to watch, too.
Perhaps we might make moved readings a regular part of our calendar.

Also at this meeting we celebrated the wonderful contribution made by Roy Shannon, a member for some decades, who has served in various capacities, most notably as secretary for many years. Frances had commissioned a framed copy of Sonnet 29 as a memento for Roy. Although Roy wants to take a back seat and enjoy the ride for a while, we hope he will continue to attend meetings.

All-in-all,
2014 has been an enjoyable year at the Shakespeare Club of WA. We've learnt a
bit more about Henry V, King Lear, Measure for Measure and
The Winter's Tale, and we've also had some very happy times just
drinking coffee and munching cake!

We
have a social get-together in January, and in February one of our favourite
guest speakers, Professor Chris Wortham, will pay us a visit. In March we hold
our AGM, when we vote on activities for the coming year. I wonder which plays
we'll choose this time?

PS - A slight correction to the above - Rosalind tells me the idea for a moved reading came from Frances, our president, so kudos to all three - Rob, Frances and Rosalind - for a whooping end to the year's activities!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Last week a group of our members found a
perfect shelter from the unseasonable weather by watching the film of the RSC’s
recent production of The Two Gentlemen of
Verona.

Before the performance members of the cast
and crew repeated the words: Friendship, Love, Obsession, Jealousy, effectively
preparing our minds for the themes to come.

The four main characters were strongly
individual and contrasted; the lovelorn and changeable Proteus against the
energetic and single-minded Valentine; the ultra-fashionable and beautiful
Sylvia against the simple, almost dowdy (although very charming) Julia. The two
girls differed only in appearance, of course; they were equally steadfast in
their loyal devotion. These contrasts were cleverly supported by the
differences in setting between provincial Verona, with the town brass band and
the al fresco trattoria, and cosmopolitan Milan with its disco music and
flashing lights.

The drama of the four lovers moved apace,
and any feminist critic would have been proud of the strength and independence
displayed by the women, as Julia (in male disguise) followed Proteus, and
Sylvia bravely escaped her father’s house with Valentine. The confrontation in
the forest was powerful and violent. With Proteus’ words ‘I’ll force thee yield
to my desire’ and his evident intention, Sylvia threw him to the ground, and
clearly would have strangled him had not Valentine intervened. Valentine held
Proteus’ head down in a water barrel several times. It was remarkably
convincing action, with the tension abating only when Julia revealed her
identity.

With all this strong drama, the comic
aspects of the play were delightfully interspersed. Traditionally the comedy
rests primarily with Speed and Launce, the servants, and neither disappointed. Speed
was the classic player-with-words, relishing the possibilities of sound and
multiple meanings, quick-thinking and quick-moving. Launce was the more
lugubrious, and his cross-play with the dog, Crab, was a delight. The dog must
have come fresh from winning a competition as Britain’s least prepossessing
pet, but it behaved beautifully and performed exactly as required.

Much of the comedy came from the
interpretation of Lucetta’s role. I had not previously given much thought to
this character, but here she bloomed as a vigorous and quite bawdy young woman
reminiscent in voice and accent of Absolutely
Fabulous’s Bubbles. The outlaws added their own gentle humour. Far from
being fierce bandits, they were really pussy-cats, only too happy to find a new
and confident leader.

The entire production was swift and
engrossing, leaving me with that very happy sigh of satisfaction at the end
which indicates a most enjoyable experience.

Shakespeare's comment on friendship, love, constancy and
fickleness, this romantic comedy takes us from the controlled world of
Verona and Milan to the wildness of the forest where, it seems, anything
can happen.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Here is a review of Henry V as presented by the Bell Shakespeare Company in Perth last week. It was written by our redoutable president, Frances Dharmalingham.

What an exciting theatrical experience! I
saw the Bell Shakespeare production of Henry
V last Saturday evening and spent all the next day happily reliving the
highlights. There was so much to think about and so much to admire in this
richly detailed interpretation.

The imaginative conception of framing the
original drama in the context of the Blitz gave us, the audience, layers of
meaning and heightened the significance of many incidents in quite
extraordinary ways. The performance began with schoolchildren studying
Shakespeare’s histories in their classroom literature lessons; soon they began
the early exploration of the text, reading their parts not always expertly. Gradually
we saw them becoming fine actors as they inhabited their characters and
identified with those characters’ experiences; and finally we had the entirely
convincing portrayal of Henry and his men during their French campaign.

This is much too facile an account, however.
The repeated bombing raids of the Blitz regularly brought the actors and the
audience back to the‘present', so that
frequently we were watching a performer as both a schoolboy character and
simultaneously a Shakespearean character. There were times when the intensity of
a scene enabled the complete ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ — we were with
them in France — and other times when again we were back in the classroom
watching these youngsters wrestling with the ideas and feelings evoked by the
dual influences of the play and the real-life war.

For me, this layering was perhaps the most
fascinating aspect of the production, but there were so many features to admire
at the time and to enjoy in retrospect.

The set was brilliantly devised. Looking at
it before the play started, I wondered if it might be rather too small an
acting area, but of course it wasn’t: it was the classroom, but imagination
allows the action to spill out and beyond it! The broken windows and jagged
edges of half-demolished walls evoked many memories of old bomb sites, and the
bookcases with their shelves no longer parallel became the versatile basis of
any number of props as required. The sound and lighting were spectacular — the
absolute aural battering of the bombs and ack-ack guns, the chilling wail of
the sirens, and the sudden black-outs powerfully supported the established
setting.

The small cast were uniformly fine performers,
each, except for Michael Sheasby (understandably) as Henry, playing many parts.
They had hardly an opportunity to leave the stage as they shifted scenery
between assuming their different roles. It was altogether a great example of
true ensemble playing. The set changes were frequent and beautifully organised,
as the trusty bookcases and very few other furnishings were tipped and turned
and by sheer force of imagination turned into anything required; even, after
Harfleur, into the mud and mire of northern France as the troops struggled
towards Agincourt. Later, following the unexpected appearance of a downed
German airman, clever use was made of his parachute. The actors convincingly
suggested the youthfulness of upper secondary school pupils, but were skilled
in quickly assuming their many and varied roles within the main script. Their
basic school uniforms were very simply modified to suggest improvisation under
austerity conditions; the French identified by red and blue scarves, the
knights ready for battle with cardboard ‘armour’ round their knees and
shoulders. Princess Katherine’s frilled dress for the final scene, apparently
created from rows and rows of old exercise book pages, was quite charming and
served to underline the end of hostilities.

A makeshift trumpet was used to good effect
for formal and martial purposes, and strong drumming strengthened the urgency
of war preparations. Led by Drew Livingston, the actors sang well in the
opening scene with the church dignitaries and after Agincourt, and especially
in the moving finale.

By referring briefly to Richard II and
Henry IV, the introductory scene in the classroom gave a useful lead in to the
play, and this was cleverly followed up to explain the church’s concerns about
money, and the archbishop’s specious reasoning to justify war with France. This
is normally a particularly boring scene and is always going to be largely
incomprehensible, but by making it a brisk ‘chalk and talk' session the main point was
well conveyed, allowing the players to ease into their performance.

Monarchs to behold the swelling scene. Credit: Michele Mossop

The order of the scenes was occasionally
interestingly re-arranged, and the choruses broken by the episodes to which the
words referred – a good way to avoid very long speeches, and maintain the
action. There were also some sensible cuts which I’m sure no-one would have
minded: the leek in the bonnet episode, and the Act V chorus in particular. An
addition was Katherine’s reference to Henry’s threats to the people of
Harfleur, as a justifiable way to explore her attitude towards him and to
marriage with him.

One of the most memorable moments came as
we were yet again returned to the pupils’ present time, with a particularly
intense bombing raid, a very near miss in fact, in which one of the boys (who
played The Boy) was injured. This led immediately into Henry’s speech: ‘I was
not angry since I came to France Until this instant’, referring to the
slaughter of the baggage boys. This was an electrifying response, as war and
its effects on innocent bystanders became real. I had a little difficulty with
the introduction of the German paratrooper, but perhaps he was there to provide
the schoolboys with a moment of direct confrontation with ‘the enemy’.

Following the epilogue, spoken by Keith
Agius with the same admirable clarity he brought to the choruses, the cast
(once again school pupils, having finished their study of the play) sang ‘I Vow
to Thee my Country’ simply but with stirring feeling. The play reminded me that
when literature is made relevant to life it can have profound influence.

This was a strikingly good production. The
actors performed with such passion, and between the high points the tension was
skilfully lowered with suitable pauses or light and spontaneous comedy. Given
that it was the final show of the Perth season, and followed an afternoon
matinee, they are all to be heartily congratulated on their never-flagging
energy. It was a performance to make me return to the text with pleasure and
new insights.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Two milestones: mid-year has well and truly passed and we have just finished reading King Lear.

King Lear: Goneril and Regan by Edwin Austin Abbey

Lear is a difficult play. It has a couple of subplots that complicate the main issue - the cruel way two daughters treat their mad old father, the King - and it's far from being an easy read. It isn't performed often, and it's not hard to see why. One wonders if our Will made it up in a hurry one dark night because the players didn't have anything to perform for an important gig.

True to form, he stole the main plot from earlier works based on the same tradition, and the sub plots from other sources. Some like to class it as one of the 'problem plays', and certainly it has many problems for anyone bold enough to consider producing or directing it. It's the first time the club has read it since I joined some ten or twelve years ago, and it's not hard to see why it hasn't been put forward for reading before. It is, quite simply, too difficult to embrace in two afternoons of reading. I feel I would have benefitted from a full semester's lectures on this play! And I must admit that I would have preferred an ending like the one proposed by Geoffrey of Monmouth, in which Cordelia restores her father to the throne, and succeeds him as ruler after his death. Our Will must have been in a melancholy mood when he set pen to paper for this one!

Measure for Measure: Isabella by Francis William Topham

Never mind - next month we move on to Measure for Measure. While not the lightest of The Bard's works, it certainly appears to be comic relief after King Lear! There are quite a lot of funny bits: enough to keep the attention of people who, like me, will always choose comedy over tragedy.

After that's on with A Winter's Tale, which is another slightly problematical play: it starts off as if it were to be a drama, but becomes lighter and funnier as the plot wears on. Much depends on the production: there are plenty of opportunities for 'business' and a spot of ad-libbing that can lighten the tone of the play considerably.

New members will be welcome to attend any of the remaining meetings for the year. The next one will be on Saturday,16 August - as usual, in the back room of the Citizens Centre on Perth Railway Station Concourse.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Several members saw the WA State Theatre's production of one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies. Frances Dharmalingam gives us her impressions.

Jovana Miletic as Rosalind. (Image by Rob Frith)

The recent Black Swan State Theatre’s
production of As You Like It was at
least the fourth professional performance I have seen (apart from a student
show in which I participated) and this was certainly the one which provoked in
me the most frequent outbursts of real laughter – not just silent chuckles.

This version was not just modernised.It was right up to the minute, and I was
amazed at how easily it was delivered in 21st century idiom.Corin the shepherd (Greg McNeill) provided a
notable example, expressing his comfortable aphorisms in the voice of an
outback Aussie farmer.

One of the delights of the whole
performance was the clarity of the actors’ diction and their impeccable
phrasing.Not a word or a subtlety was
lost.The characters were strikingly
individual, and their energetic portrayals were effectively supported by the
clever and amusing costumes.

Le Beau (Brendan Hanson) made use of every
possible innuendo in his lines, but managed to do so without offence, and
created an unforgettable character out of one who normally fades rapidly from
the memory.Similarly, Phoebe (Cecelia
Peters): a very pert little miss flouncing about on terrifyingly high shoes.Her exit through the forest, off to write a
stinging rebuke to Ganymede, was stunningly funny (even though the accompanying
music went right past me: I’m not well acquainted with current pop music).Then there was Audrey (Caitlin Beresford-Ord)
with her extraordinary fidgety gestures perfectly suggestive of her excitement
at Touchstone’s proximity, and her extraordinary contortions while locating and
eliminating a flea.

This is not to suggest that the supporting
players outshone the main performers.The three young leads had energy, charm, humour and intelligence in
abundance.Orlando (James Sweeney) began
the play with a style which set the tone for the evening. He dealt skilfully
with the long opening speech, evoking more laughs than I would have thought
possible in what is essentially necessary background information.

Rosalind (Jovana Miletic) and Celia (Grace
Smibert) were delightful as best-friend schoolgirls and grew to lovely maturity
in the course of the play. Celia was a more assertive character than sometimes
depicted.Her ‘forest’ costume of smart
riding breeches and boots emphasised her self-confidence while in no way
reducing her femininity. Rosalind on the other hand looked convincingly boyish
and adopted an amusingly gangling walk, while never letting us lose sight of
her essentially female nature. Her transformation at the end, revealing herself
as daughter to the old Duke, and lover to Orlando, was delicately charming, and
she brought the performance to a perfect conclusion with her handling of the
epilogue.

Other highlights – and there were many –
included the brilliantly choreographed wrestling match and the beautiful forest
setting.Although the bursts of recorded
modern music were no doubt well chosen to enhance the point of particular
scenes,they meant little to me; but I
enjoyed Brendan Hanson’s live singing (as Amiens) which set the quietly
nostalgic mood for the exiles in the woodland.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The English language has been constantly developing
and evolving over the centuries, and here Richard, a member of the Shakespeare Club of WA, seeks to give the
modern reader a clue to the meaning then extant of some of the words the Bard used — or in some cases, invented!
William Shakespeare’s extensive vocabulary would have been generally understood
and appreciated by those of the play-going upper-class, some of whom nevertheless
might have blushed at the earthier expressions relished by those of the hoi
polloi audience. Yet the latter, ignorant of many of the high-falutin’ terms,
would still have given each play a rousing reception, at times interacting
vociferously with the players.

About us

The Shakespeare Club of Western Australia, generally known as The Perth Shakespeare Club, founded in 1930, meets at 2.00pm on the third Saturday of each month (except January) at Citiplace, on the Perth Railway Station. It is close to the WA Art Gallery so if you don't come on the train you can park your horseless carriage in the underground carpark beneath the Art Gallery. Our annual subscription is affordable for students and pensioners.

Over the course of the year, we may read several plays, enjoy hearing an occasional guest speaker or watch a film or two - and throw a couple of parties as well. Works are chosen by vote at the AGM each March.

New members are always welcome - just turn up at 2.00PM on the third Saturday of any month except January! To access the meeting, you will need to go around the back of Citiplace to the door off the arcade that leads to the Barrack St Bridge.

In the second half of 2014 we will be reading King Lear (June-July) Measure for Measure (August-September) and A Winter's Tale (October-November). December's meeting will be given over to festivities and perhaps a few favourite readings.

The webmistress of the blog is Satima Flavell, and anything that's not Blogger's fault is probably hers.